It was a peaceful time in world at large, then again, it had been peaceful for the last one hundred and fifty years. It wasn't that any of the major countries of the earth didn't want to get involved in the world affairs, it was just that there wasn't anything worth fighting over anymore. World peace was declared for the first time in human history over a century ago, and humanity prospered because of it. However, just because there was peace, that didn't mean that there wasn't massive violence. It was just controlled, supervised, and put on public television for entertainment in the form of squad based Mech suit battles (Dubbed Mechanized Mobile Weapons. Often referred to as MWs or Mechs). Mech suits were a revolutionary new technology introduced right at the end of the last war humanity would ever wage, and it looked like it would be technology wasted were it not for the MBF reviving it decades later.

The MBF (Mechanical Battle Federation) was a federation that filmed both teams of mech pilots and lone wolves battling in controlled environments, and sold it as pay-per-view entertainment to the massive. After all, there was no easier way to entertain a people that had never known anything but peace then to show them war.

Since the appearance of the MBF, mech battling took over as the world's primary sport, conquering the competition in record time. It got so popular that lesser leagues also started popping up all over the place, mech battling became as common of a school sport as many of the other, more athletic activities, and was easily more thrilling.

It's a Mech based world, and the people that lived there wouldn't have it any other way.

................................

Anybody interested in the premise? If I get enough people saying that they're willing to bite, we can start to talk about adding a more deep overarching plot to the story. After all, I want my players to be entertained, so I like to get their input before I start to put together any kinds of plans for where to take the RP.

I'm a little curious about this one, but not sure if it's for me. I do have a few questions and comments I think might be helpful:

Given the part about schools, I'm guessing this is not a dystopian thing where prisoners and/or volunteers fight to the death for the entertainment of the masses. Is it more like a modern sport where pilot death is very rare and the action stops if someone is actually hurt? Are the mechs actually occupied or remote controlled?

Is the MBF itself real or is it "sports entertainment," where the pilots play specific characters for the cameras and their dialog and matches are completely scripted? Then each player would be playing a character who is an actor and therefore spends part of his or her time playing a character themselves (okay, bad idea, lol). Heh, I suppose for that matter it could also be real but done in a documentary style, with cameras following the pilots between battles ("Michael, that weapon won't fit in my port." "That's what she said!")

Another random thought: maybe nation-states now solve intractable disputes through simulated mech wars? This could lead to spying and sabotage threatening the pilots, blurring the line between sport and actual combat.

Also, one very minor thing--while the words "mechanized" and "machine" don't overlap completely, putting them together does border on redundancy in my opinion. Might be best to change or just drop that name.

Alright, first order of business, I fixed the acronym so that it's less redundant. Next, I want to say that I actually really like most of your suggestions, and I want to say now that this is NOT a dystolian future like bloodsport... Those get old after a while.

While the MBF is predominantly a national sport, there's nothing stopping people from hiring pilots to Ham it up with scripted battles... Hell! Perhaps one such person could be the Johnny Cage of the RP. And there is ALSO nothing stopping us from making a plot point of political corruption during scrimmages to determine regulations over... stuff...

In other words, the RP will be lighter then most that show up on this site, but I have no issues with it getting serious at some points. It's going to be like a vacation from all of the 'dark and edgy' RPs that swarm E.

I would rather not have to implement a system if it could be avoided. When the RP starts, it's going to be freedorm fighting. However, I expect maturity in the people that play. I expect characters and mechs to have strenghrs and weaknesses, and I expect the players to portray them properly.

Done right, it's more open and more fun then any system ever will be. And expecting people to RP with common sense isn't asking for too much... right?

Okay, I don't know for sure if this game will get off the ground, but I'm onboard and I like coming up with characters. Hopefully this isn't too long, please let me know what you think. ^_^

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Name: Elizabeth “Railgun” RainesAge: 24Appearance:

Personality:

Intelligent and curious, Beth is just as passionate about learning new things as she is about piloting mechs. She is a bit tomboyish at times, though not averse to dressing in a feminine manner. She is easy to get along with, and surprisingly well grounded for a professional athlete. Occasionally she will attend high profile social events or awards shows, but she lives fairly simply and is just as happy to stay in and read or watch holovids on a day off. Most of her outrageously high salary goes to charity and college funds for her siblings’ children.

While Beth is bisexual, she has never been in a romantic relationship with a man and finds women to be far more physically appealing. Her interests include programming, science, philosophy, and using her celebrity status to raise awareness for various causes.

Beth was always a cheerful person—and she still tries to be—though since the accident (see below) she has been a bit more subdued.

Background:

Beth Raines grew up in a middle class New England household, and was the youngest of four children. She was a very gifted student, skipping two grades and aspiring to someday work in the field of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) research. Despite spending a lot of time with her intellectual pursuits, she also had an active social life.

Growing up, Beth had always been interested in mechs and MBF events—though no more so than the average person. Freshman year of high school she went out for the school mech team, but only because she thought it would be fun and look good on her college applications. However, she quickly proved to have uncanny talent—sharp reflexes, cunning tactics, and remarkable accuracy at extreme range. She was captain of the Melrose Mortars for three years (junior year was one of those she skipped), and her town won the State Championship twice in that time.

After the Mortars came in second place in the national competition her senior year, Beth was offered the chance to join the MBF right out of high school at age sixteen. She was very torn, but her new-found love of being a mech pilot won out—the way Beth figured it, she could go to college anytime, but her reflexes would eventually diminish with age.

Often called “Railgun” Raines in the media, Beth has had a very successful career and is a fan favorite. She’s known for her supreme accuracy with that weapon, and its considered folly to deliberately engage her at long range. Unfortunately for her opponents, it is also quite difficult to trick her into a close-up ambush. When commentators compile lists of the top ten international players today, her name usually comes up. Because she always stays out of trouble, tabloid writers seem to enjoy making up wild rumors about her—she rarely dignifies them with a response.

Unfortunately, Beth’s personal life has been marred by one major tragedy. At age nineteen, she married her high school sweetheart Melissa McDermid, a fantasy author who had been a cheerleader for the Mortars. Six months ago, Melissa was killed in a hovercar accident. Beth took half a year off from the MBF, during which she mourned and struggled with severe depression.

Beth has reluctantly come back to work, hoping that a return to normalcy will help her feel better. She is much more like her old self before the accident now, though there’s still pain beneath the surface.

Your character looks interesting :). Anycase ok, freeform then. Have idea for somesort newly rising 'black horse' competitor to the games. A guy who acts to be media's favorite 'bad boy' because of numerous scandals and fistfights he ends up with some people. But overall he is not violent person otherwise.

Also unlike other competitors he refuses pick up sponsors, always stick with age worn battered mech which origins are unknown and considered modern standard junk. So he is automatically always underdog in any fights. But he had succeed with sheer toughness, as his mech is shockingly strong to able deflect attacks. Most key indregient to his success lays in that he each time pulls of some surprise tactic or new weapon from his mech, as if his mech weapon and item set changes each time despite lack of sponsor.

At Joslyn: Your character is interesting, and now officially has the GM stamp of approval for the RP. However, I would appreciate it if you (and everybody else) made a separate profile for the mech that you'll be using throughout the RP. If this is unfamiliar territory for you, feel free to use the template that I've used for my own characters. Oh, and I hope that you're alright with people using Anime pictures for their characters. I just can't use real people's actual faces for RP characters, it just makes me feel weird.

At Zaer: Careful with that. If done improperly you've created a Mary sue. However, if done very carefully and with enough effort, you can create a well characterized badass. I would like you to PM me the specifics of HOW he gets this weaponry, and what his capabilities are in terms of getting new weapons and using outdated technology. I want to avoid god moding at all costs, and breaking out a new toy every 7 seconds with no explanation of set reason borders on that. I hope you can respect my saying that.

Don't get me wrong, I have no opposition to characters getting new weapons, I just want there to be some kind of justified reason for why they are getting the weapon, and some kind of restraint. Your suggestion that he gets a new weapon EVERY SINGLE time he fights is asking for a bit much. However, the arsenal upgrade here or there, that can be approved.

At Pen: What? So now you've only got a passing interest, jerk? Some friend you are.

Anyway, here are my 2 characters, as things stand right now. I forgot to mention this earlier, but multiple characters is allowed. However, for the sake of keeping the RP at least somewhat easy to keep track of, I'm going to make the restriction... let's say... 3 characters per player for now. The only exception is if you're creating an entire team on your own, where the max is bumped up to 5. However, for the 5 man limit, ALL of the characters have to be on the same team, and are generally kept together for the duration of the RP. If you want completely different characters who have nothing to do with one another, the max is 3.

With that said, character sheet time.

Name: Mira MalrainAge: 20Sexual Orientation: BisexualAppearance:

Personality To call Mira a gear head would be an understatement. She knows more about how MWs work then almost any other pilots, in fact, she is the sole person responsible for the maintenance of her MW, which will be talked more upon later down. She has a deep passion for Mech battling, and often puts a great deal of effort into improving either her MW or her skills at piloting one. Secretly, she carries a bit of an inferiority complex to her older brother, though she'd never show it unless deeply pressed about it.

Despite her being a rather attractive young woman, Mira was never one for relationships in the pats. She often invested far too much of her time into practicing her piloting skills, or developing new weapons or generating systems for them to be pursued. Even if one were to pull her out of her work, she really doesn't have many hobbies outside of turning a wrench or penciling on a blueprint.

History: Mira's father, Mattias Malran, is one of the best mech pilots to ever grace the league, so much so that he was actually inducted into the hall of fame for his consecutive victories and championship wins year after year. When his children came of age, both of them showed an interest in mech battling as well, though the results between the two of them varied greatly. The older of the two,Mattias' son Alister, showed raw potential that surpassed even that of his father. He was an ace in the making, and when enough years passed, he would be a man to fear in the MBF. Mira... on the other hand...

It seemed that Alister got most of the raw talent, to put it lightly. Mira struggled to hold her own, despite everything she tried, the art of fighting in a machine just didn't come to her anywhere near as smoothly as it did for her brother. She suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of people that her brother easily walked on. It crushed the young woman, who aspired to be just as talented and do just as much justice to her family's name as both of the men of the house. In an attempt to keep up with her father and brother, Mira started to put unbelievable amounts of effort into practicing her skills after school hours, midnight hours burned during the weekends. Not on clubs, parties, or boys, but in the warehouse as she tried desperately to shorten the distance between her and those she aspired to be like. When she got a little older, Mira started to take up engineering as well. She learned how to design, build, and repair MWs all on her own, so that she wouldn't need anybody's help, ever, for anything.

Even after years of struggling against her own lack of natural talent, Mira is still only slightly above average at best, miles and miles away from the legends that her father was and her brother is on his way to becoming. It crushes her to think about it, and it crushes her even more to be compared to the men of her family from an outsider looking in. She fights by combining what combat experience she has, but is often forced to rely on her deep knowledge about the inner workings and mechanics of MWs in order to pinpoint weaknesses in enemy frames, and holes in defenses. She also finds herself relying heavily on the performance of her machine, which she designed herself to match her needs in combat and make up for her lack of ability as a pilot.

other systems- Phantom Drive: Created by Mira as a secret weapon for the Einenlancer. The back mounted plasma cannons let off a rather unusual type of emission that forces such weapons to have external vents. However, Mira designed a 'sink' that took those emissions and stored them within the Einenlancer's hull. When the sink is full, she opens all of the Einenlancer's vents, and the emissions pour out. As a result of these actions, wherever the Einenlancer moves, it leaves an after image in it's wake. Combined with well timed EMP grenades, which disrupt a foe's video channels, this can make the Einenlancer capable of distorting it's opponent's awareness as to where the Lancer is. However, this method of timing takes a great deal of skill and timing to pull off, and skill is one of the things that Mira struggles with.

- Backup generator: When the Einenlancer first came in from the manufacturer, it had one big issue that had to be addressed. When Mira overused the plasma weaponry attached to the Einenlancer, the generator overheated and shut down, leaving the MW as nothing more then a giant paperweight. Mira resolved this by installing a secondary generator within the Einenlancer. That way, when the main generator shuts down from plasma overuse, the secondary one kicks on and allows the Einenlancer to continue fighting. However, since the plasma weapons are directly linked to the main generator, she will be without her plasma cannons when put on the secondary generator.

Construction and History: Mira designed the Einenlancer from the ground up to be the perfect MW for her, as it played well to all of her strengths, and catered to her weaknesses as well as it could. The Einenlancer is designed to be a predominantly fast, while still packing a great deal of power. Also, Mira designed a number of optional weapons for the lancer so that she could have a weapon for every situation. That way, instead of using skill to overcome a foe, she could just have a weapon sent to her to help her take care of the situation easier. It was her own special way of evening up the playing field, since she had nowhere near the kinds of reflexes and battlefield cunning that many of the best did.

The Einenlancer is still very much a new machine, as Mira only just got it right before the start of the RP.

Second Character

Name: Alister MalrainAge: 22Sexual Preference: StraightAppearance:

Personality: Alister mostly keeps to himself, not really speaking much unless spoken to. Some in the past have called him emotionally dead, or sometimes being just plain cold for no apparent reason. Even though he carries his father's raw talent, he resents the fact that he keeps getting compared to the man, and often fights in hopes of creating his own name for himself, rather then just being stuck in the shadow of a man who's already made it through his career. Even though he comes off as emotionless, he carries a deep sense of justice in his heart, and is very protective of his little sister, even though he doesn't show it all the time.

When he fights alone, he is swift, effective, and somewhat ruthless to his opponents. When he fights in a team, he is a lone wolf and never cooperates with those around him, much to the annoyance of his teammates.

History: Alister is called a prodigy by many, the second in a family of extremely dangerous pilots who have sealed themselves to carry a legacy within the MBF. His battles are often swift and decisive, though he has found a few opponents that he as deemed as being worthy rivals. Over the years, he watched from the sidelines as his younger sister struggled to keep up with him, and he often felt sorry for her, though he never actually took any action to help her along for reasons that he keeps to himself. Other then that, there really isn't a whole lot to comment on as far as his life went. He lived as normal a live as possible, and tried out for a seat within the MBF as early as he possibly could. Of course, he passed the tryouts with flying colors, and when his first season came to a close, he had made enough money to have his own personalized MW created for him, the MW would later be dubbed 'Zero' and become one of the most feared sights on the MBF battlefield.

Other Systems-Transformer drive: Alister's MW is unique in that it's capable of transforming from a combat Mech into a fighter jet. While in jet form, Zero sacrifices stability and firepower in exchange for a massive boost in mobility and speed. Also, since the jet is obviously capable of flight, this adds a whole new level of tactical options to Alister's arsenal.

Construction and History: Tragically, in exchange for being able to transform into 2 different modes at will, Alister had to make sacrifices in the weaponry department. All of Zero's weaponry is installed into it's frame from construction, with the exception of the vibroblade, and it can only have a few weapons installed without compromising it's transformation ability. However, that doesn't mean that Zero's harmless, far from it. When in mech form, the double barreled beam rifle is a very powerful carbine, capable of dealing a great amount of damage to those careless enough to underestimate it, and Alister's skill with a vibroblade would be enough to cause an opponent to think twice before driving in with a close quarters assault.

Alister had Zero custom built after his performance in his MBF debut, and it's served him very well ever since.

At Joslyn: Your character is interesting, and now officially has the GM stamp of approval for the RP. However, I would appreciate it if you (and everybody else) made a separate profile for the mech that you'll be using throughout the RP. If this is unfamiliar territory for you, feel free to use the template that I've used for my own characters. Oh, and I hope that you're alright with people using Anime pictures for their characters. I just can't use real people's actual faces for RP characters, it just makes me feel weird.

I'm fine with the anime pictures, though I guess they're a little strange to me. The only two anime shows I've seen are Ghost in the Shell and Evangelion so I'm not as used to the style.

I'm a bit surprised by the MWs, given mention of school teams I was expecting something a bit more subdued. Though I suppose we could say people who aren't professionals probably have much smaller and less powerful mechs. About how large are those in the pictures supposed to be? Also, for a jet form to be useful, I take it the professional battlefields are very large in size? I'm just asking so I can better picture all this in my head.

I'll try to come up with some weapons and systems for my mech based roughly on your examples. Do I need to have some sort of picture? Because generally I just use pictures that are already on this site's wiki and I don't know if there's anything like that.

I'm fine with the anime pictures, though I guess they're a little strange to me. The only two anime shows I've seen are Ghost in the Shell and Evangelion so I'm not as used to the style.

I'm a bit surprised by the MWs, given mention of school teams I was expecting something a bit more subdued. Though I suppose we could say people who aren't professionals probably have much smaller and less powerful mechs. About how large are those in the pictures supposed to be? Also, for a jet form to be useful, I take it the professional battlefields are very large in size? I'm just asking so I can better picture all this in my head.

I'll try to come up with some weapons and systems for my mech based roughly on your examples. Do I need to have some sort of picture? Because generally I just use pictures that are already on this site's wiki and I don't know if there's anything like that.

Well, yeah. Professional grade MWs will be a lot more effective and powerful then those that a school student could get their hands on. Also, a picture isn't mandatory, but it's always encouraged if you've got one on hand. As for how the battlefield is going to work, yes, they're going to be big. I don't have any exact measurements, but we're talking about a battle ground where a sniper is catered to, and a jet is actually a functional transformation tactic. The battlefield will also have simulated terrain, rocks, hills, caves, what have you.

For a rough estimation... about... 3 or 4 football fields for a professional MBF battlefield.

Name: Jareth HermanAge: 22Sexual Orientation: StraightPersonality: Confident, Bravado, Hot Tempered, Flirter (female fans love it)History: Jareth Herman is a son of antique museum owner, a war museum more exact. In family history there is long line of generals and war heroes until the lasting peace was formed. A former general who spoke for peace opened museum to remind people about bloody history of the warfare in cold plain facts but with some fancy tales to remember heroes from past.

His family genetic roots are in german but his family had moved to united states long before the peace but they have proud german roots. His father was usual dusty museum keeper who had studied only history and done bit archeology. Jareth himself always was raised with war tales and history and he kind of missed times for glory. The MBF games are his favorite shows to watch. He studied engineering and computer programming, not to become mech pilot but to become builder or repairman for mechs. Also his whole life he cleaned and repaired war machinery in museum, as some models were kept active and repaired so they can perform in shows to show their destructive power for audience.

But then things changed; some business company had heard just rumors that his father had in secret storage the first and original produced Mech but it was not just any mech; when war was ending many nations feared might of mechs. So one german warfactory produced one prototype which is known as anti-Mech unit. With high customable frame for many varied weapons and made from top german metallurgy and engineering to be toughest of all mechs. As it was mech model designed for heavy front line figthing with long lasting batteries and activity time.

Father said he had never heard of such said mech but companies still kept begging him to tell and sell it. As with modifications said mech would become unstoppable force in battle. But father was old school raised; like his predecessors he despised warfare and even MBF games caused him turn sick for people glorifying warfare where they should not. But eventually one the companies, Jareth is not sure which, made move. They kidnapped his father and his family, they started blackmail father reveal location of the mech but he refused. The gangsters killed mother in front of Jareth's and father's eyes and gun was pointed towards Jareth now!

Only then father broke and said he will lead them there, Jareth and father were led to secret warehouse in former american military base. Inside in sealed garage doors was finished mech! With numerous spare parts, weaponry and gadgets for real warfare! While gangsters hired by company inspected mech, father succeed grab gun from one of them and start wild fire fight in museum! trying buy Jareth time to escape! But entrance was blocked so only escape was....enter the mech. He entered mech and he sheer improvisation activated it and he used worn and old used mech to kill the gangsters but not before gangsters had killed his father in gun fight!

Jareth, bitterned by the loss of his family just for sake of business greed for damn MBF games he decided enter road to become mech pilot. Not for not money, not prove being best nor for fame or glory. Just plain enter the games to show a true brutality of the fights and teach people respect lives with doing example. Because of his devotion he refuses any sponsors (as company was origin cause for death of his parents) and he refuses use his win money to buy new mech or weapons. It's more a sake of pride why he does not do it plus his father died for revealing this mech. As the old mech kind of reminds about his proud father. But because he uses ancient mech it is not customizable with most modern weapon systems nor upgrades. But it has one advantage over all other mechs; it has full military implemented combat sensors, computers and it's build very beginning to be tough and especially effective mech vs mech fight. He spends most winning money on repairs, ammunition or his own inventions which convert old war weapons and gadgets for mech's own use. He's the Macgyver of mech invention with junk.

Because of limitations of weapons Jareth is forced to only fight foes in medium or close range. In close range the anti-mech reveals it's true power; it's unarmed mech fists hold a powerful energy generator which causes fists cause critical damage to any mech which gets pummeled by Jareth's mech. So Jareth's main strategy is same as with boar; charge headlong with enemies and ram them up with powerful close range attacks and endure whatever enemy throws at him. That's why he named mech as Eberhart. Which is german for 'strong as boar'. But he knows he cannot always trust to bold charge but he uses varied clever tricks to set up the chance to perform his ultimate attack. There the numerous gadgets and weapons come in. He is able gear up and adjust his mech with any weapons from both from secret military base (where he can repair his mech) and from museum.

MW

Name: Eberhart Mark IAppearance (note; twice as larger than any present mecha's both size and mass):

Optional WeaponryBesides ammunition for the assault rifle mech has following upgrades possible (2 slots);-Shoulder heat tracing rocket launchers (1-2)-Close range sonar cannon (attached to head section)= It allows make single sonic cone attack which does not harm mechs but their drivers instead. The noise penetrates any sound protection gear what driver may have if it is not in-build feature of the mech resist sonic attacks.-Flame thrower = Not use most mechs but often Jareth implements it in to use tactically (often use it to create smoke screen between him and foe). Also flames stick on enemy target so it's easier locate.-Electric trip wire = does not cause heavy damage but it's only weapon with long range available to Eberhart Mark I. It is meant to disable mobility of enemy mechs and electricity is meant to hinder energy flow on legs than cause harm.-Grenade Launcher = It's attached to shoulder and it is capable for launching short range grenades which vary from EMP, Napalm and Shrapnel.-Anti-missile turret = It's weapon only designed to destroy any missiles before they reach and hit the mech.

Other Systems-Super Blast resistant plating = In reduction in general mobility and increase of weight the mech has several extra layers of steel, aftershock impact structure and also surface plating is treated with anti-plasma steel. Reduce any incoming plasma damage.-Several sensors, able function in both bright light, night time or during when video image is not available (makes aiming weapons harder but he can locate foes exact location with sonar radar).-Charge turbo thrusters = Altough mostly slow compared to more slender mechs, with turbo thrusters he can close incredibly fast from medium range to close range with his foe. But he can do it max two times.-War resistance = In general Eberhart Mark I is resistant to most forms of anti-mech attacks. Protect drivers from sonar attacks. Resists impact from EPM (not necessary direct hit but this resistance is meant also protect from EPM released from powerful punch attack mech has). Also because of it's unique energy core and computer system it's not easy to hack as it's not attached on any network like most mech systems are.

For a rough estimation... about... 3 or 4 football fields for a professional MBF battlefield.

Well, four football fields end-to-end is only about 400 yards long--that's actually not big at all. In real life snipers can sometimes kill targets at over 1,000 yards. And you have to figure a giant mech with a much larger gun (and aiming at a target much bigger than a person) might be shooting even further. Plus it would be completely impossible to use a jet on such a small battlefield.

Really, I think we should be looking at battlefields that cover like 100 km^2 or more, especially if there are a lot of participants on both sides.

Well, four football fields end-to-end is only about 400 yards long--that's actually not big at all. In real life snipers can sometimes kill targets at over 1,000 yards. And you have to figure a giant mech with a much larger gun (and aiming at a target much bigger than a person) might be shooting even further. Plus it would be completely impossible to use a jet on such a small battlefield.

Really, I think we should be looking at battlefields that cover like 100 km^2 or more, especially if there are a lot of participants on both sides.

You see? This is why I need good help. I'm not good at this whole 'logistics' thing. I appreciate the input, and it will be implemented.

Close range sonar cannon (attached to head section)= It allows make single sonic cone attack which does not harm mechs but their drivers instead. The noise penetrates any sound protection gear what driver may have if it is not in-build feature of the mech resist sonic attacks.

I have a suggestion here. I can see why the Eberhart might have this weapon--seeing as it was built for actual war instead of a sport--but it such a weapon should probably be illegal by the rules of the MBF due to targetting the pilots directly.